Entry 1_Phạm Thị Vân Anh

Item 1 Poem

Listen To Your Child’s Stories

Nandita Shailesh Shanbhag

First day Lily arrived late from school
Mom thought she was playing the fool
Angrily, what happened asked she
Lily replied “A monster detained me”
Mom said “That is so absurd!”
There are no monsters in this world

The second day her schoolwork was in a mess
Mom thought that she was being careless
She asked “What were you doing all day?
From the monster, I was trying to hide away
Mom said “This is so absurd!”
There are no monsters in this world

The third day Lily refused to go at all
Mom felt it was just a tantrum small
She threatened her with a beating
Lily replied “The monster may be waiting”
Mom said “This is so absurd!”
There are no monsters in this world

The fourth day, Lily complained of a stomach ache
Mom said please do not fake
She said I am tired of your repeated lies
Lily replied “The monster will make me cry”
Mom said “This is so absurd!”
There are no monsters in this world

The fifth day, Lily fell ill and took to her bed
Mom forced her to go to school instead
She ranted at her, asked her why
The monster will hurt me, I shall surely die
Mom said “This is so absurd!”
There are no monsters in this world

For this little girl, there was no sixth sunrise
For her new teacher was a monster in disguise
He caught her alone and took her life
After torturing her for hours with a knife
Monsters are real, the mom realized too late
If only she could have saved her baby from this fate

So listen to your child’s stories really well
About her little anxieties they may tell
A sordid tale may be hidden in her tears,
Lend a patient ear to her innocent fears.
Pay attention to her words and understand
For her safety and security lie in your hands.

First day Lily arrived late from school
The second day her schoolwork was in a mess
The third day Lily refused to go at all
The fourth day, Lily complained of a stomach ache
The fifth day, Lily fell ill and took to her bed

Mom thought she was playing the fool

Mom thought that she was being careless
Mom felt it was just a tantrum small…

Mom said please do not fake…
Mom forced her to go to school instead..

Lily replied “A monster detained me”

From the monster, I was trying to hide away

Lily replied “The monster may be waiting”

Lily replied “The monster will make me cry”

The monster will hurt me, I shall surely die

Message: Children are very naive and they have their own thinking about things around them. Therefore, we should not criticize them before thoroughly listening to them.

Item 2 Story

THE BOY AND THE APPLE TREE

Long ago, near a mountainside, there was a big apple tree and there was a little boy who used to play around it. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples and even took a nap under its shadow. He loved the apple tree and the tree was always happy to play with him. Many days passed like this.

And the boy grew up. Now he had many friends and he was not very eager to play around the apple tree. When he did not come for many days, the apple tree became sad. Then one day the boy came. The apple tree was happy and said: “Why don’t you come to play with me now?” the boy replied: “Now I am grown up. Playing around you does not satisfy me. I want to play with toys but I have none.” The tree became sad and said: “Sorry, I have no money for them but you can pluck my apples, sell them and buy some toys.” The boy was very happy. He plucked many apples from the tree, sold them and bought many toys.

Days passed by again and for many days the boy did not come to play with the tree. The tree was sad and lonely. Then again one day the boy came. The apple tree was very happy and said: “Why don’t you come to play with me now?” The boy, who was now in fact a full-grown man, said: “Now I have no time. I have family. In fact I want to make a house but I have no money.” “No problem,” the tree said, “Bring an axe and cut my trunk and branches and make a house for yourself.” So did the man. The tree was very happy and satisfied to help him.

Days passed by. The man did not come to the apple tree for many, many days. Again the tree was missing him. Then one day, the man appeared. The apple tree’s joy knew no bounds. It said: “Why don’t you come to play with me now?” “How can I? Don’t you see I’ve become such an old man? I have no strength to climb to your top. I have no teeth to bite your apples. My only desire is to travel the world but I have no boat.” “Worry not,” the tree smiled, “My trunk and branches are once again fit. Cut them and make a boat for you.” So did the man and traveled the world.

Many days passed by again and the man did not come back to the apple tree. The tree was sad and lonely more than ever. Then one day the man came again. The tree was so glad to see him. It said: “Why don’t you come and play with me now?” The man said: “I am too tired.” The tree said sadly: “Ah! I’ve nothing now to offer you. Apples don’t grow on me now. I am weak and hollow from within.” The man smiled: “What I need now? Nothing. I am just tired and want to sleep. May I sleep under your shade?” “Why not, my son! Sleep under my shade.” And the man sleptpeacefully.

Now neither that apple tree exists nor that man, but a dervish told me: “That boy was just like any child and that tree was like a parent. Whatever you want, your parents give you just to see you happy and the way the boy treated the tree, perhaps we all treat our parents.”

By Sunitichandra Mishra

Rhetorical Devices:

* Repetition: “Why don’t you come to play with me now?”

* Metaphor: boy ( children) ; the tree ( parents)

* Climax: from when he was a child until he is an older man, from when he want to small things to larger things…

Message: Our parents are the greatest people who sacrificed themselves for us too much. We should be grateful to our parents and treat them well before it is too late.

Message: You may be a successful person but it does not mean you are happy. Because if you have money but you are always stressful, you have nothing. Keep your life balance between material and spirit.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

I love your poem. It is so meaningful and sad that I am deeply impressed.However, I wonld like to add one mỏe rhetorical device to the 3rd item, it is irony. The author express a ridiculous situation between the rich and the poor in our society!

Your story and your poem are really meaningful; you analysed them very meticulously.
The picture of the third item is interesting as well; however, in my opinion, the rhetorical device used in this picture is symbol: the man in car symbolizes successful people and the jogging man symbolizes unsuccessful people.